Say Yes Philly 2025 Program Goals

Play It Forward Orchestra

February-May 2025
20-30 participants reached 
Budget $6000

• Need
  • There has been a steady decline of music education in schools. Although there are many strong music educational organizations, there are limits in the personnel and supplies needed to meet the demands of Classical and Jazz education. Legacy music education organizations and traditional teaching methods often fail to acknowledge the prevalence and potency of colloquial exchange of music. In the history of rock music, R&B hip hop, there are many prominent examples of impactful musicians that learned how to play music among their friend groups via peer to peer knowledge exchange. More young people could be experiencing the power of musicianship if our communities expand the concept of what music learning can be. 
•  How 
  • The Play It Forward Orchestra brings together students of various experience levels in music, ranging from beginner to advanced to develop to make and perform music together. Participants with experience are encouraged to mentor peers with less experience. Participants with more experience are also expected to pick up instruments and hardware they have little to no experience in. Beginners are provided with instruments to take home. Beginner music makers are encouraged to engage their more experienced peers for knowledge. For all levels, music software, hardware and a variety of interdisciplinary devices like DJIng, poetry and animation are taught in workshops to support students with exploring unique ways to collaborate and learn music peer to peer. 
• Vision
  • Provide each child with appreciation and capacity related to music along with skills for collaboration and community building. ​

Beats & Moves Lab *NEW*

9 Week Program 
Budget $6000 
Goal is 6 classrooms
150-200 students reached
McCall and Meredith

• Need
  • Traditional art education organizations in Philadelphia are not sufficiently providing opportunities for youth to explore ways that  current technologies can support self-expression and communal enrichment. In today’s society, there is prevalent concern around how technological devices and social media platforms are detrimental to youth, diminishing the quality of interpersonal relationships and individual mental and physical health. There is a need for more programs that teach young people how creative use of screen devices and other current technologies can lead to art production that serves and enriches in-person interfacing and community building. 
• Mission 
  • Inspired by the beginnings of hip hop and the club dance music of the late 20th century, empower students to use the technologies of their time to create unique art and practices for gathering to enjoy communal expression.
• How
  • 9 week in-school workshops, available to 4th - 6th grade
  • 3 weeks of beat making/music production; 3 weeks of graphic design and animation; 3 weeks of dance and movement
  • Provide students with historical and modern references of how each discipline thrives in various grassroots communities and larger commercial platforms. 
  • Provide students with skills in each discipline. 
  • Culminate with artists Salon that features listening, screening, performance and a party 
• Vision
  • Provide every child with awareness, skills and inspiration to use technology and virtual platforms for generating artistic practices that bring greater constructivism, meaning and value to in-person communal gathering. ​

I Am The Move! 

4 schools; 15 classrooms
450 students reached
$12000

• Need
  • Exercise and movement enrichment opportunities are hard to come by in most Philadelphia public schools. Gym classes and other activities featured in public schools aren’t typically activities that students can easily implement into their daily lives. Street dance is a thriving artform on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Traditional academic institutions and art education organizations are not empowering young people to transform their generation’s love for street dance into intentional action to benefit mental and physical wellbeing of individuals and peer groups. 
• How
  • I Am The Move teaches the history of street dance to help students understand how cultures are formed and grow to benefit the communities they are made in. The program also teaches street dance vocabulary. Students are shown how to develop their own movement languages individually and in groups. Self-confidence, creativity, teamwork and appreciation for music and movement are cornerstones of the program. 
• Vision
  • Provide every child with awareness and confidence in their ability to dance as well as understanding and appreciation of dances’ power to benefit individuals and communities. ​

Say Yes Philly Previous Programming/ Impact

Summer Camp Scholarships ​

In the Summer, Say Yes Philly partners with MoveMakers and Philly Music Factory to provide scholarships for dance and music camps, respectively. We partner with community leaders, organizations and local schools to locate families that are excited by the services that our partners provide. Our goal is to build lasting relationships with families, aiming to offer them services for consecutive years. We believe that consistent access to an enriching environment truly makes a difference, opposed to touch and go exposure. For example, there was 90% retention between 2022 and 2023 MoveMakers camp scholarship recipients. The result is deeper and meaningful connections. 

 Donate Today to Support 2025 Summer Camp 
​
Impact   
-We provided 20 MoveMakers Philly summer camp scholarships for in 2024, allowing all 20 participants to attend for 10 weeks of camp.
-83% of campers expressed that they frequently learned new skills.
-92% of families expressed that MoveMakers camp increased their child’s chance for exercise. 
-92% of families expressed that MoveMakers camp helped increase their child’s self-confidence. 
-100% of families expressed that MoveMakers camp increased their child’s opportunity to express creativity.
-83% of families expressed that MoveMakers camp increased the likelihood of their child socializing with kids from a different neighborhood. 
-100% of families shared that their child is more motivated to practice art and athletics after MoveMakers Philly Camp
-92% of campers are interested in returning to MoveMakers Philly Summer Camp

I Am The Move!

I Am The Move! was launched by Say Yes Philly’s partner MoveMakers Philly in 2022. It is our Philadelphia School District Strategic Partnership Program, in which we provide teaching residencies and educational assemblies at no cost to the district. In 2024, I Am The Move! operated residencies at 3 Philadelphia Public Schools in 2023/2024 and served 150 students. 600 students were reached through assemblies. I Am The Move! is devoted to empowering youth through American Street Dance, which originates and is still innovated in predominantly Black neighborhoods. We believe that artforms like Hip Hop are closely relatable to youth in underserved neighborhoods. American Street Dance forms are vessels that harbor qualities of  creativity, ingenuity, collaboration, determination and self-belief at their core. We use the study of street dance movement and culture to instill tools for success in our students. 

Impact   
-Offered class to 150 PSD students weekly January-June 2024 
-Provided hip hop dance history performances to 600 students attending PSD schools. 
-75% of students reported that they found their mood after IATM classes to be “Extremely better than before IATM classes”
-100% of students reported that they IATM classes helpful at putting them in a better mental and emotional state for their next endeavor, whether it was a class, going to a new activity or home for the day
-Students attested that their favorite takeaway of IATM classes were the following:
    -”Improved mood and attitude”
    -”Increased self confidence”
    -”Increased creativity and self expression”
    -”Increased ability to dance” 
-100% of students reported that IATM classes helped them feel more confident and believe in themselves, with 50% reporting IATM classes made them feel “Extremely confident”, 25% “Much more confident” and 25% “More confident”
-75% of students reported classed helped them to appreciate exercise and learning new skills with their body
-75% of students reported that classes helped them to appreciate learning about the history and culture of artforms like breakdance and hip hop

Play It Forward Orchestra

Play It Forward Orchestra's mission is to bring together a diverse group of Philadelphia youth representing different neighborhoods, experience levels and ages to learn and perform music together.

Core Principles: 
Service
Collaboration
Leadership 
Compassion
Respect
Collective Joy

The Play It Forward Orchestra is a mixed instrumental ensemble of two participation levels, mentees and mentors. The mentee cohort comprises students with fewer years of experience and less access to lesson and performance opportunities either due to financial or other barriers. The mentor cohort are students with a strong command of their instrument and experience with ensemble playing. Via the guidance of the orchestra's teaching artists facilitators, both cohorts are provided a platform that supports relationship building, peer to peer learning and fun through music. Play It Forward participants work together to reach the goal of presenting a concert that features classic and current popular hits.

Impact:
-Served 7 Mentees ranging from 4-8th grade
-Served 5 Mentors ranging from 8-10th grade
-83.3% of Mentees reported that PIF “Very Frequently” helped them learn new skills
​-83.3% of Mentees reported that they felt supported by the teacher and students with more experience
-100% of Mentors reported that the opportunity to be a mentor provides an opportunity to do good for the community with their music talents
-100% of Mentors reported that this program helped them to work on leadership skills
-80% of the mentors reported that this program helped improve their communication skills
-100% reported they would like to participate in this program again
-100% of parents reports that this program increased their child’s self confidence
-100% of parents reported that this program increased opportunities for their child to express themselves creatively
-100% reported this program increased their child’s capacity for teamwork
-100% of parents reported that they did not have access to free music programming prior to Play It Forward, and that the programming being free was a major impact on their child's ability to participate